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Thread: RV Camping; Tips, tricks & repairs

  1. #21
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    Reminder to any of you who like to reserve your spots. Online registration for the summer opens Feb 19th.

    I'm thinking of grabbing one weekend in Bow Valley (so darned close), and maybe another down in Cypress HIlls. Anyone been there?

    Some of my favourite spots aren't reservable.

    I'm also torn about long weekends. I often stay home just to avaoid all the idiots who camp on those dates, but it really is nice to be out for an extra day. Maybe I'll make my own long weekend by adding in a few days of vacation.
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  2. #22
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    "We need a vaccination for stupidity, with booster shots against an unwillingness to learn."

  3. #23
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    Has anyone bought the generators at Costco? I'm wondering how noisy they are. I've heard the the Honda lineup is king when it comes to quiet operation but they are pricey. Are the Yamaha units as quiet? I don't want to be the jerk in the campground that runs a noisy generator.

    Edit: After a bit of research the Honda EU3000 series is rated at 48 dB at 7M. The Costco equivalent is rated at 65 dB at the same distance. I have no frame of reference on this. Is it going to be a significant difference in the real world?

    The ~3000W units seem to be the ones that most people need to supply the RV assuming they want to run their AC.
    Last edited by Masked Bandit; 01-28-2013 at 02:50 PM.
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  4. #24
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    Originally posted by Masked Bandit
    Has anyone bought the generators at Costco? I'm wondering how noisy they are. I've heard the the Honda lineup is king when it comes to quiet operation but they are pricey. Are the Yamaha units as quiet? I don't want to be the jerk in the campground that runs a noisy generator.

    Edit: After a bit of research the Honda EU3000 series is rated at 48 dB at 7M. The Costco equivalent is rated at 65 dB at the same distance. I have no frame of reference on this. Is it going to be a significant difference in the real world?

    The ~3000W units seem to be the ones that most people need to supple the RV assuming they want to run their AC.
    Those chinese knock-offs (ie: Champion, etc) are all EXTREMELY loud!! Like I mean, if it's running at one end of the campground, you can hear it at the other end. My sister rented a 5th wheel, and they include a Champion generator. She camped beside us, so about 50 yards away through the bush...it was hard to talk to each other sitting outside our trailer.

    Conversely a guy had the EU3000 a few spots over...we were walking by his site...could see the unit in plane view, maybe 50 feet away....I didn't know it was running!! Went up to talk to him about it, and standing right beside it, we could talk normally without any problem or annoyance.

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    I know those Champion ones you're talking about and I think up until recently that's all Costco sold. The ones they have on their website now are "Powerhouse" brand. The difference seems to be that the old Champion ones were the plain "motor sitting in a steel tube frame" set up. The Honda, Yamaha & new Powerhouse ones all look like the same boxed up configuration (everything contained within a sound-deadening box).

    http://www.costco.ca/Powerhouse%c2%a....10354943.html


    I had no idea how heavy these things were (~130 lbs)!

    They Yamaha units seem to be quieter than the Powerhouse units but slightly louder than the Honda set up.
    Last edited by Masked Bandit; 01-28-2013 at 02:51 PM.
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    Yeah be near a 160lbs with fuel and oil

    But the sound is UNREAL.. As mentioned you could stand right over mine and not be bothered by it. I think the 3000 is even quieter then the 2k in real world use from what I've seen.

    48db to 65db is a HUGE difference since its a log scale. Normal convo is around 60db.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

  7. #27
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    Hmmm. Those look interesting! The loud ones usually go for the $500 range....so this one might be a bit better. I might even take a jog up to Costco and see if they can start one up for me. I like the built in remote start!!.

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    Adding remote start to mine was one of the best things I've done! Such a PITA to run in and out all the time otherwise.

  9. #29
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    I'm torn on what to do. Personally I hate generators. Period. I don't even like going to non-powered sites, only because more and more people are getting generators, and usually the loud ones. God, some mornings they get cranked up all over the place. I'm sitting in the morning sunrise with my coffee and it's loud as hell. The wifey is all over getting one, saying "we can go anywhere then!!". The reality of it is though, we camp almost exclusively in Kananaskis. There's plenty of great campgrounds that have power. And lemme tell you...those "powered" sites...you can hear a pin drop no matter what time of the day. NO ONE runs their generators. So I lean more and more to those type campgrounds.
    For short trips, long weekends, etc, my batteries and small inverter are more than enough, so we'll do places like Lundbreck, Crowsnets pass, etc...
    Spending a couple of grand, and adding 200 lbs to our already packed trailer, just doesn't appeal to me all that much.

  10. #30
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    Keep in mind how the dB scale works. 65 dB is A LOT more than 48 dB at the same distance.

    Edit, I'm with you Dave. I like to hear the birds chirping in the morning. a single gernator anywhere in the campground and I'm going to hear it, and be annoyed. I don't have AC in my rig, and I don't want it.
    Last edited by ExtraSlow; 01-28-2013 at 02:50 PM.
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  11. #31
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    Originally posted by C_Dave45
    I'm torn on what to do. Personally I hate generators. Period. I don't even like going to non-powered sites, only because more and more people are getting generators, and usually the loud ones. God, some mornings they get cranked up all over the place. I'm sitting in the morning sunrise with my coffee and it's loud as hell. The wifey is all over getting one, saying "we can go anywhere then!!". The reality of it is though, we camp almost exclusively in Kananaskis. There's plenty of great campgrounds that have power. And lemme tell you...those "powered" sites...you can hear a pin drop no matter what time of the day. NO ONE runs their generators. So I lean more and more to those type campgrounds.
    For short trips, long weekends, etc, my batteries and small inverter are more than enough, so we'll do places like Lundbreck, Crowsnets pass, etc...
    Spending a couple of grand, and adding 200 lbs to our already packed trailer, just doesn't appeal to me all that much.
    I can agree with you on the noisy non-powered section of the campground Dave. It almost seems counter-intuitive eh! Set in with the tenters and here a bunch of noise first thing in the morning. That's why I'm actually ranking the unit noise factor so high on my decision, I don't want to be the jerk disturbing everyone else. At the same time I don't want to be scared to run mine either simply due to noise.

    Good, cheap & quiet. Pick any two.
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  12. #32
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    We usually hit the back country sites, where expensive rigs don't go - so we don't have to listen to gensets...

    There's nothing worse than the sounds of generators on vacation. When we run into them, we roam onto the next site... even the Honda's are an annoying noise...

  13. #33
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    I bought a 3300 champion. fuck I hated it, I mean it worked, but I put it on a 100ft extension cord, and it was still loud. I would only consider a inverter genset now. at 45db is going to be really quiet compared to the champion I had.

    looks like Canadian Tire has a yardworks brand of inverter gensets. anyone know anything about those?
    Boosted life tip #329
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    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
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  14. #34
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    oh, and now another question!

    Was talking to the guys at interstate batteries, and they said that for $320 they could hook me up with 2x6v batts for the trailer.

    Is it a good deal? these batts any good? should I look elsewhere for a better price? Or should I just jump on these?
    Boosted life tip #329
    Girlfriends cost money
    Turbos cost money
    Both make whining noises
    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
    Always a fucking awful experience seeing spikers. Extra awful when he laps me.

  15. #35
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    Originally posted by spikers
    oh, and now another question!

    Was talking to the guys at interstate batteries, and they said that for $320 they could hook me up with 2x6v batts for the trailer.

    Is it a good deal? these batts any good? should I look elsewhere for a better price? Or should I just jump on these?
    If they're Trojan T105's that's a great deal. I paid $190 each for mine. If they're "no name"....no idea.

    The rule of thumb is "you can't beat Trojan T105's". That is the standard for the best RV setup.
    That being said...a lot of people just buy a couple "deep cycle/marine 12 volts" at Costco, hook them in parallel, and then "return" them when they go bad.

    YMMV.

  16. #36
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    Everyone always tries to find cheaper gen's, the fact is they come no where close to the high end ones.. But you have to justify the price to yourself the same as anything else.

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    The rv.net guys have some pretty good ideas on quieting down the cheap sh*t... But... They're still loud/annoying IMHO. But I get irritated even by the eu3000s...

    Kirkland - costco for your batteries. They've got the 6v golf cart batteries and people like me prefer the marine units; mine are 5yrs old now, and still as good as new. (side benefit of solar, keeps them topped up through winter; just check water levels usually around xmas (think I added a L to the 2 batteries this year). Price is better - and costco warranty FTW.

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    My champion 2k invertor isn't loud at all. I've had it under the trailer and had a nap in the trailer without an issue. It's 53dB when running..

    http://www.championpowerequipment.co...rators/73531i/

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  19. #39
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    I've got the Yamaha 2400 and it is quiet and can run my air conditioner just fine. I couldn't live without it now.

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    Originally posted by codetrap
    My champion 2k invertor isn't loud at all. I've had it under the trailer and had a nap in the trailer without an issue. It's 53dB when running..

    http://www.championpowerequipment.co...rators/73531i/
    I have that one and am extremely happy with it. Noise is nothing, even at full load. Can't hear it run from inside the trailer at all. Did a proper break in on it and run full synthetic oil. 3 years old now and perfect. The cost to benefit ratio between this and a Honda/Yamaha was just to far apart for me.

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